Tuesday, June 11, 2013

At a high school conference,
I met an African-American man at a dance. The connection was so strong I didn’t
notice or care what color he was at first. Other students thought it was cool,
but the family was not so supportive because they tended to be kind of uptight
in my dating years. When the guy invited me to his prom, I wanted to go, but the
disapproval was too high a price. I lived with my family so tension would be 24/7.
I also had other guys asking me out, so I cut my losses.

I remember the scent of his
cologne and can’t help wondering what if I’d been stronger? If that situation happened
now, and if I knew he was the love of my life, I would fight to be with him, no
question. My heroine in Rose, Exposed struggles
with the same issue.

I started writing interracial
romance because it adds another dimension of conflict, making the happily ever
after an even sweeter reward. I set these books in historical time periods
because racial tensions were even stronger then.

Rose, Exposed

http://www.ellorascave.com/rose-exposed.html

When Leroy gets promoted at
the new oyster plant on Pearl Point, all he cares about is working hard. Then
he meets flirtatious artist Rose, and soon nothing matters except getting her
to the altar and into bed. He’s healing from a recent loss, and isn’t about to
let her go too.

Because Rose’s strict,
social-climbing father doesn’t approve of dark-skinned Leroy, they court in
secret. Although Leroy’s raw passion can convince her to do almost anything,
why can’t he understand she needs freedom, not marriage? However, in the 1930s,
freedom for any woman is hard to come by.

In Leroy’s arms, Rose finds
unimaginable sensual pleasures, but she’s torn by desire and duty. Her father
wants her to be white; Leroy wants her to embrace her black heritage. Playing
both sides of the fence leaves this young biracial beauty exposed in more ways
than one.